The_Invention_of_Surgery

SEVENTEEN

Implant Revolution

“The first industrial revolution used water and steam power to

mechanize production. The second used electric power to create

mass production. The third used electronics and information

technology to automate production. Now a fourth industrial

revolution is building on the third, the digital revolution that has

been occurring since the middle of the last century. It is

characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the

lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.”

—Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum

And now, our own John Charnley has become part of surgical

history, and has taken his place in the gallery of the great master

surgeons who have gone before ... the Charnley prosthesis is in

essence a biological design by a man who was also an artist. It is

something which a Leonardo da Vinci might have envisaged. But

today we are thinking about the man, the human person we knew

and held in affection. He had so much to give to the world of

surgery, both in fundamental knowledge and to the relief of

human suffering.”^1

—Harry Platt

I’m performing shoulder surgery, but instead of wearing surgical scrubs,
gown, cap, and mask, I’m sitting in my office chair in a white lab coat,
dress shirt and tie. In fact, the patient is nowhere to be seen—only his